Sky Blue
by cerulean-nightmare
Summary: Loki was finally punished for his deeds and was sent to Midgard for 20 years as a cat. A while later he was picked up by a 5 year old girl that soon enough changed his perspective of "lowly Midgardians". The older she got the more she realised that she needed the mysterious black cat and Loki soon became an important part of her life. Loki x OC post-avengers
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Loki Laufeyson, you've committed a number of atrocious crimes both in Midgard and Asgard. Those crimes are worthy of immediate banishment from Asgard!" Forsetti thundered, glaring down at the indifferent face of the accused god of Lies. Loki didn't look phased by the angry speech, if anything he wanted Forsetti to hurry up and decide on his punishment so he didn't have to endure the dullness of his voice any longer than necessary.

"However, I wish you not exiled, but redeemed" Forsetti continued his speech after a short pause, his voice regaining the usual monotone quality, showing that all the anger has been banished from his system. Loki perked up, finally looking up at the god of Justice, curious to hear what he had in mind. However, a nagging feeling of mild annoyance tugged on his gut, letting him know that whatever it was, he was very unlikely to find it pleasant.

"Your punishment will be as such- you, Loki Laufeyson, will be sent back to Midgard and will have to be there for twenty Midgardian years. You are going to have to obey every Midgardian law as failure to do so will result in immediate banishment from Asgard. Do you wish to accept our terms?" Forsetti finally asked, looking straight into Loki's icy blue eyes. The god of Lies had a sudden urge to laugh at Forsetti's naivety- only twenty Midgardian years? That was hardly any harsher than sending him to his room to keep him under house arrest.

"I agree" Loki nodded with a pleasant smile and Forsetti smiled back, which made Loki's skin crawl as his smile meant nothing but bad news for himself.

"Very well Loki Laufeyson, as of now and for another twenty Midgardian years your home will be in Moscow, Russia. Also, I may have failed to mention this before- you will not be able to maintain your current form during your temporary banishment from Asgard."

That caught Loki's attention and his eyes narrowed as he was now alert and unsure of what to expect.

"And what do you mean by that?" he enquired, trying his hardest to keep up the nonchalant façade.

"You will have to maintain a form of a Midgardian creature, something that they call a cat."

Loki's façade shattered under the weight of the other god's words. Him, Loki, the god of mischief and lies to be turned into a lowly Midgardian creature?!

"I beg your pardon?" Loki half growled when he finally regained his ability to speak. He was very angry and Forsetti could see that; it was obvious that the other god enjoyed seeing Loki display such strong emotions.

"Where there is bad, there is also good. I still do not believe that you are evil to the core of your being Loki Laufeyson, and if you can display such powerful negative emotions, I am sure that you can also express positive emotions, maybe even to a greater altitude. Be gone now and remember to what you've agreed to. Heimdall will always be watching you, so remember everything."

Forsetti nodded at the guards and they led the stunned god away. He still could not believe his ears. Although now, there was no more need to muse over their deal- it was now done and there was nothing that he could do about it anymore other than trying his best to endure the twenty years. And with the last, small sigh, Loki Laufeyson was gone.

…

**A/N:** hey guys this is my first Loki fanfic so I hope the prologue wasn't too horrendous ^-^ I'll be improving as I go along so the story will definitely get better : ) review please to let me know what you think! : )


	2. Midgard 1

Winter in Moscow was cold and bitter this year, thick snow polluting the air as if smog, preventing people from going outside. However, her family was never the one to stay indoors just because of some snow; after all they willingly chose to move from Washington DC to Moscow. She looked out of the frosted window, watching the snowflakes circle in the sky before landing softly on the brilliantly white pavement, forming a thick layer over people's cars, windows and pathways. She finally saw the figure she was looking for all along and let out an excited squeak before climbing off the chair and shouting "daddy is back!".

She spoke fluent Russian just like the rest of her family, but when they were home they still preferred to converse in English, she, being so young, still didn't understand why that was the case.

"Careful you'll fall!" Alexiel shouted, noticing her jump and she grinned at him before running off into the living room to find her mother napping on the coach, arms hugging one of the two white fluffy pillows and tiptoed back out of the room so she didn't wake her up. Her mother just came back from a late shift in the hospital as she worked as a doctor so this was the only time she could catch up on her sleep without having to worry about anyone as she knew that Alexiel was more than capable to look after his sister, although the little girl refused to depend on her older brother. She viewed herself as all knowing and very capable, just like most children of her age. Alexiel and her didn't always see eye to eye but they both knew that upsetting their parents was bad and so despite constantly annoying each other they kept a truce between themselves which made the life of their parents a lot easier.

A knock on the front door alerted the children and they both run for the door, each trying to be the first to open the door for their father. Alexiel was first as he was a lot taller and older than Alisa but when he was about to open the door, he heard her sniffle sadly, knowing that she could never beat her brother, which made him feel very guilty. So he did what any other boy would do in his place- he picked her up and let her turn the key in the door after she squeaked out a small "who's there".

Their father burst through the door with one hand under his thick coat, grinning.

"Hello kids, I see that you've been very good! Thank you for letting her have her way Alexiel" he said and ruffled the boy's thick wavy black hair and Alexiel laughed, his emerald green eyes shining- he was definitely his daddy's boy. Alisa saw her dad being distracted and took it as an opportunity to peak at what he was hiding in his coat but her father saw it and laughed.

"Curious aren't we" he remarked playfully before pressing his index finger to his lips and whispering "you can't tell mummy yet, okay?". Both children nodded, very curious and he finally took his hand from inside the coat and Alisa almost squealed from excitement- a small, black kitten was lying on his palm, his paws hanging off their father's hand. The kitten was sound asleep, probably because of how warm it was inside the coat.

"Can we name him…Loki?" she asked quietly, unsure of how she thought of that name in the first place. It appeared in her mind from the first second she lay her eyes on the fluffy black kitten. Her dad gave her a surprised look and then nodded "if Alex doesn't mind then sure". She looked up at her brother pleadingly and he sighed "okay, okay."

"What's going on here?" a groggy female voice called out and a second later their mother appeared in the doorways, rubbing her eyes to rid herself from the last remains of sleep. Their mother was a tall Russian woman with long legs, chiselled, beautiful features and long blonde hair. She could be a model if being a doctor wasn't her passion. Alisa inherited her mother's beauty, figure and bright blue eyes but had her father's raven hair. Alexiel, on the other hand, looked a lot like his mother as he inherited the same, perfectly straight nose, shiny blonde hair and a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Despite being Russian, their mother spoke fluent (albeit slightly accented) English as it was the only language used in the house.

"Hello dear!" their dad cooed, knowing that unless she is approached at the right time with the right words, she won't let them keep the stray cat. Alisa rushed to hug her mother and squealed "daddy brought home a kitty! We want to keep it mommy!"

"Can we keep it please?" Alexiel asked, walking up to their mother, giving her the best puppy dog look her could muster and she sighed and after a couple of minutes of silence nodded "sure, but you two will be responsible for raising it, understood?"

The kids jumped up and Alisa scooped up the yawning kitten and embraced it. The kitten looked up at her, his icy blue eyes scanning her face with curious and slightly disgusted look plastered across his feline face. The small white patch on his forehead that resembled an upside down crescent moon made her smile and she felt a chill crawl down her back.

_Well, look what we have here…_


	3. Midgard 2

He woke up and stretched out his limbs feeling relaxed after the long nap. His arm went to scratch his nose, it being a bit of an old habit, and his eyes widened in horror when instead of an arm he saw a small black paw. Everything that happened in the last couple of days has flooded back into his mind making him groan and put his head back on his outstretched paws in depression. He was just a lowly Midgardian creature now, something totally dependent on the fancy of lowly Midgardians. Loki Laufeyson was born to be the ruler of Midgardians and not their toy!

But, all of that was nowt but a faraway dream, a fantasy that could not be fulfilled. He tried to sigh but couldn't, only managing to squeeze out a silent breath from this weak, small body of the disgusting feline. Soon enough he began to get a little bit curious of his surroundings and quickly blamed it on his current appearance just so he could justify it. He stood up and looked around, taking in every small detail of the quiet room.

He was currently standing on what he deemed as a Midgardian bed, although he had to note, much to his dislike, that his bed in Asgard was a lot more comfortable. Then, something attracted his attention. There, standing on the opposite side of the room, was a small black feline creature with a white, upside down crescent moon shaped patch on his forehead. He, just like Loki, was standing on a bed, watching as the god of Lies stretched his neck out to get a better look at the bizarre creature.

"Come here and I won't hurt you" he commanded but only a string of loud mewing sounds came out of his mouth. He tried to roll his eyes at his own stupidity but failed and growled, beginning to get fed up with the infuriating body. He stared at the black creature again and its icy blue eyes were looking right back at him. It was like the lowly Midgardian creature was taunting him. How unacceptable!

Angry and curious, he jumped off the bed and made his way to where the feline was. It jumped down with him and was now walking towards him, a curious look plastered all over his features. Something felt a bit off. Or smelled. He grimaced and sneezed when he got close to the creature, noting a rather vile smell that it was emitting. Another couple of steps and him and the creature were inches from each other. One more step.

He run into something cold and hard and hit his head. The impact made him stagger back a little and sit down from surprise. The creature was sat down too, looking at him in shock. Suddenly it hit him. The ridiculousness of the situation made him want to laugh but, since he was just a cat now, all he could do was to grimace at his own reflection in the mirror. What a ridiculous situation to end up in.

But, if there wasn't a creature but himself in the room, then what could be emitting such a foul smell? Surely it could not be him…? His eyes widened and he quickly moved one of his front paws towards his nose to make sure that he wasn't the source of the vile smell. And he wasn't; he smelled strange, sure, but not anywhere near as bad as something that was lying by the mirror.

He began to slowly make his way back to the mirror, more curious than disgusted; the only difference being that he was now aware of the mirror and made sure that he didn't walk into it again. The closer he got to the mirror, the stronger the smell became until he could spy a black object behind one of the two wooden legs of the mirror. He guessed that it was some sort of item of clothing.

He pawed it a couple of times to make sure that no strange Midgardian creature lived inside of the thing. Then, he dragged it out from behind the mirror with his claws and realised that it was nothing but a dirty old sock. With a disgusted expression plastered over his features he left the sock alone and sneezed again, silently cursing the dust that was now all over his face and paws.

He then walked around the spacious room, studying every object that his small paws and nose could reach, too curious to think twice of his godly nature.

"Loki!" someone squeaked, taking him by surprise and he felt himself being lifted into the air. He looked up at the one who dared to pick him up and realised that he was staring at a grinning face of a small Midgardian child. The girl giggled when she saw the expression on his face and pressed him close to her, laughing and squealing "Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki is awake!"

The fact that she knew his name startled him greatly, but was quickly back to his normal self and began to wriggle, trying his best to get away from the squealing toddler.

"Don't squeeze him so hard Alisa you'll hurt him!" a stern female voice was heard and the toddler (Alisa was it?) has finally stopped squeezing all nine lives out of his body. He then found himself being cradled by a tall Midgardian woman who was currently telling off her child. The woman was attractive for a plain Midgardian, with her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He could tell that the woman was telling her child off for treating him so roughly and couldn't help but feel superior to the pouting kid.

"Now, why don't you introduce yourself to Loki?" she said after finishing the speech about how you need to treat cats or whatnot and the child grinned and waved at him "hi Loki I'm Alisa!" he had a sudden urge to roll his eyes and sighed. Well, attempted to sigh. Damn this useless body.

The woman smiled at her and walked out of the room, still carrying him in her arms "well, let's introduce you to the rest of the crazies"

Oh, oh dear.

...

**A/N**: sorry that it's so short :'( next one will be better xD throughout the chapters i will be doing time lapse as i don't really want to be writing about every day of the next 20 years in this story so :p watched Thor today...cried :( someone please give me Tom Hiddleston for my birthday :(


	4. Midgard 3

The kitchen was full of laughter and joking. He was quickly introduced to Alexiel and Steven and quickly noted a new figure in the crowd. The man was turned away from them so he couldn't see his face.

"Tony, I'd like you to meet Loki" the woman called out to him and Loki began to think why the name Tony was so familiar.

"Ah, Anita, always a pleasure to see you" the man said and turned to smile at her, his muscles stiff and alert. Loki's eyes widened as he finally recognised the man. Tony Stark, the man of iron. Tony looked down at him and allowed a small sigh to escape his lips- he thought of a different 'Loki'.

"Where's Pepper?" Anita enquired and set Loki down on the floor. Tony shrugged his shoulders looking nonchalant and said "well you know, here, there and everywhere. Now that she is a CEO of Stark Industries there are lots of things to do"

"What, things that you were meant to do but didn't because you were too lazy?" Steven asked and chuckled, a dark shadow never leaving his features and Tony nodded "precisely" not noticing (or perhaps choosing to ignore) his brother's bad temper. Alexiel sat still, looking out of the window at a group of boys playing some sort of a Midgardian game. Being in this house made Loki feel sick- he needed to escape.

"Uncle Tony, isn't Loki cute?" Alisa enquired, pulling on the sleeve of Tony's shirt and the older man smiled down at her and petted her head "he sure is, and what a peculiar mark on his forehead…"

Paying no mind to the last comment she quickly carried Loki off to her room and placed him on her small bed with a bright smile "here's where you're going to sleep! Mummy said that it's okay if I'm a good girl and I will be a good girl for Loki!"

Loki eyed her with a feeling of distaste mixed with curiosity. She was a bizarre Midgardian child, there were no negative vibes around her, she was just…too pure. It annoyed him a little but he didn't really know why. However, he was brought back out of his thoughts by the sound of someone walking into the room and much to his dislike he saw the familiar face of Tony Stark.

"How have you been then Lisa?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to Loki. Loki sent him a cold glare before jumping off the bed and walking to the other side of the small bedroom. The little girl pouted, clearly not happy with Loki's departure but then turned her attention to Tony and gave him an innocent smile, a smile only a child was capable of.

"I've been fine uncle" she answered his question but Tony sensed a lack of confidence in her tone and bent down to be on the same eye level as her. Then, he asked her another question which brought Loki's wandering attention back to the pair of Midgardians:

"Have there been any more bruises?"

The question puzzled the furry Asgardian- bruises? Alisa nodded quickly with a puzzled look and pulled up the left sleeve of her pink jumper "here uncle."

If Loki wasn't a cat, his eyes would have widened considerably. The bruise itself was huge, stretching out from her wrist to her elbow, glowing a painful purple colour amongst the whiteness of her skin. He began to wonder how she managed to get the injury. Tony was clearly thinking the same thoughts as his eyes widened in shock and he gingerly took her small arm, trying to examine the bruise without actually touching it and causing her pain.

"How did this happen Alisa?" he asked after a minute of heavy silence, seriousness of his tone laced with worry for the child and the girl shrugged and smiled "I don't remember uncle, mummy said that I fell down the stairs. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Tony shook his head, worry still evident on his features and hugged her. Loki was confused; he wasn't accustomed to such bizarre display of emotions. Tony obviously had some sort of attachment towards the brat but what he was feeling was a lot harder to pinpoint.

Suddenly the door into the bedroom opened and Anita walked in, looking a little confused. As soon as she saw Tony with Alisa, her confusion turned into anger and she glared at the man "what are you doing here Tony?"

"Checking on Lisa, is that a crime?" Tony asked, unfazed by the woman's evident fury, and let go of Alisa, standing up in the process. He then gave her a curious look and asked "you wouldn't happen to know what happened to her arm, would you Anita?"

"Get out of here Stark" she hissed and he spun her around by her arm and escorted her to the door with a sarcastic 'ladies first'. Just before leaving the room he turned to look at the perplexed child and smiled "if you ever need me kiddo, just get your daddy or brother to give me a call, okay?"

Loki watched the scene unfold, completely confused. Then, he felt himself being lifted into the air by the child's small arms and felt her hug his small form to her chest.

"I like uncle Tony, he's so kind" she whispered to him with a small smile and then looked longingly at the closed door "I just wish I could see him more…" He felt something wet hit his nose and looked up, about to give her an angry glare before noticing that she was crying.

Oh well, why should he care?

"I miss uncle, Loki, I miss him a lot…"

…

**A/N**: okay I think my Loki muse has returned :D sorry this chapter was all over the place, just trying to get back into writing and its proving to be a little difficult -_-


	5. Midgard 4

**A/N**: sorry this chapter is so short (tried to stretch it out as much as I could), it is quite important to the story though and I had to write it before the intended time skip so just bear with me please : ) also, thank you for all the favouriting/following/reviewing it means so much!

…

It was night, sometime after two am. Tony Stark was long gone, jetted back to America to be reunited with Pepper who, no doubt, will greet him with a load of old paper work that he hasn't bothered doing and a displeased scowl embedded into her elegant features. The flat was silent- everyone was asleep.

He was lying on the windowsill in Alisa's bedroom, staring outside with clouded, thoughtful eyes. Looking at the feline's face one could have probably thought that Loki was deep in thought about solving important world problems such as hunger and poverty, but no, the God of Mischief and lies was just racking his brains to find a way to get away from this family. He had no desire to be presented to Stark in his current not-so-threatening form. It would be shameful and degrading.

It stopped snowing not so long ago and the sky has cleared up, revealing the brilliant white disk of the full moon and millions upon millions of stars that varied in size and brightness. The settled snow glittered as brightly as diamond dust, enveloping everything in a thick, white blanket of coldness and shine.

Suddenly, he realised what he needed to do. The solution was as simple as Midgardians themselves- all he had to do was to leave the place via the feline door, or, as Anita called it- the cat flap. It was always left open in case he wanted to go outside when no one was home or simply if everybody were too busy to let him out.

With another, final glance at the small, frail form of the Midgardian child he jumped off the window and made his way to the front door. The cat flap was black to match the rest of the door and he poked it with his small paw a couple of times to make sure that it's open and that he wasn't going to repeat the mirror incident again. Then, Loki Laufeyson left the Stark household.

...

Alisa woke up in the middle of the night because she heard a quiet banging noise that she has never heard before. She yawned and rubbed her tired eyes before blinking a couple of times to clear her vision and then made her way out of the bedroom and into the corridor. She walked around in the darkness of the corridor, whispering Loki's name in hope to quickly locate the beloved kitten and go back to bed. As the minutes went by, her sleepiness was replaced by worry and her previously drowsy movements became more and more frantic. Something has told her that Loki was gone.

She dragged her coat off the coat hanger and did her best to button it up whilst shoving her feet into the small pink wellies her mother bought her a couple of weeks ago as a present for New Year's Eve. But, because she was rushing and not paying enough attention to the shoes, she put them on the wrong feet. With a childish huff of impatience she sat down on the floor, took the shoes off and put them back on again, this time making sure that each shoe was on the appropriate foot. When it was done, she unlocked the door without a problem; thanks to the fact that her parents always leave the front door key inserted into the lock so all she had to do was to twist it to the right until she heard a quiet click. Then, she opened the front door as quietly as she could and slipped out of the flat and onto the cold, dark landing of the five storey house.

"Loki" she whispered, walking down the cold steps, ignoring the cold feeling on her neck, ears and stomach- the latter being the result of the poor buttoning up job. She hated lifts and preferred to avoid them whenever possible, especially when she was on her own; taking the stairs made her feel a lot safer. The dimly lit corridor had a distinctive smell of beer and urine and it made Alisa wrinkle her nose in disgust.

As she descended down the concrete staircase her mind began to wander back to her uncle. She was curious to know what he was doing right now. Her first thought was that he was probably asleep already, but then she realised that he was probably with auntie Pepper who was most likely scolding him for being naughty. The thought made her giggle- her uncle always pouted when Pepper was telling him off, probably hoping that if he was to show that he was upset it'll get him out of being scolded. It never worked though, not on auntie Pepper at least.

Finally, she has walked the last couple of steps and left the building. It was extremely cold outside but she chose to ignore it, her mind coming back to her original goal which was to find Loki and bring him home.

"Loki!" she called out, as loud as her naturally quiet voice would allow her to. When no reply was heard, she began to look around at the snow, hoping to find his footprints. For a five year old Alisa Stark was incredibly clever. After a couple of minutes of fruitless searching she has finally stumbled on small, fresh footprints that were definitely left by a cat. Without a second thought she began to follow the small paw prints in the snow, not caring how far away they could lead her from home.

"Loki!" she called out again, looking around the deserted white street. The presence of her white, vaporised breath amused her a little- it made her feel like a fire breathing dragon.

...

Loki was cold and tired. He wasn't expecting to feel the chill of Midgardian weather but those expectations were soon shattered after he spent five minutes outside, belly deep in the coldness of the snow. He wasn't sure how long he's been walking for but he could already feel his paws getting numb. Still, the demi god's prideful nature was forcing him to go forward, ignoring the cold.

Suddenly, he heard someone calling out his name. He felt his heart sink a little as he realised that one of the Starks has somehow woken up and was now trying to catch him.

"Loki!"

Then, an absurd thought crossed his mind- perhaps it was that brat who followed him all the way here. However, the absurdity of the thought made him shake his head a little and dismiss it instantly. Well, only until he saw the little girl stumble through the thick snow, looking around and calling out his name.

He quickly hid underneath the nearest car and peaked from under it, knowing that the shadows concealed his body well enough to not let her spot him. When he gave her a begrudging look, the state of her outfit caught his attention- he coat was half unbuttoned (she was clearly struggling with buttons, which was slightly unusual for a child of her age), white pyjama bottoms collecting snow as she didn't tuck them into her shoes and the lack of a hat and gloves. Her hair was matted and full of snow- she has clearly been checking every tree and hedge in hope to find him.

_Why does she bother?_

He wondered and then sneezed as a snowflake landed on his nose. It has begun to snow again, and heavily at that. He glanced back at the Midgardian child and a foreign feeling began to tickle his chest. She was now shivering from the cold but it was clear that she was too preoccupied with searching for him than actually realising that if she spends any more time outside she would probably freeze to death.

If Loki could sigh from irritation, he would. Begrudgingly, he crawled out from under the car and walked up to her. The little girl squealed delightedly when she saw him approach and quickly tucked him inside her coat.

"You're back!" she smiled brightly, her lips slowly turning blue, and the bizarre feeling returned to haunt Loki's chest. Was he feeling a little** sorry** for the brat?

She paid no mind to the perplexed look on the feline's face and began to walk back, trying to retrace her steps. She wasn't familiar with the area and the fact that the falling snow has begun to cover her footprints made her even more disorientated.

Loki gave her a surprised look when he felt her body wobble. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but the colour of her face alarmed the demi god.

"Let's go…home" she whispered with a small smile before her vision became blurry and she collapsed.


	6. Midgard 5

**-1 year later-**

1St of September

Alisa woke up at 6am sharp, beaming with excitement. Today was her first day in school and it made her giggle with joy and hug the still sleeping cat tightly, waking him up in process.

"Loki, today is the day!" she squealed with another pleased giggle and the cat gave her an un-amused look, still a little sleepy. It's already been a year since Loki has begun to live with one of the Stark brothers and his family and slowly he grew accustomed to the little brat.

After the incident that took place a year ago, Loki stopped trying to escape. Something about her unconditional love and care for him made Loki pity the Midgardian child a little. Sometimes he even wondered whether she would still feel the same if she was to ever find out his true nature.

Alisa run around the room, bouncing on one leg then another whilst putting on a pair of black tights, the look of absolute euphoria never leaving her features. After a few more minutes of struggling she finally managed to get her uniform on and bolted out of the room, messy haired and half unbuttoned. Loki could sigh in exasperation at her naivety, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike the overly hyped up child. Frowning upon her daily actions was no more but a habit now as he couldn't deny that he found her to be a little amusing.

Anita walked into the room with a heavy sigh, black bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep. Loki figured that she must have finished work at the hospital around early hours of the morning and still hasn't made it to bed because of the overly excited child. She gave him a small, friendly wave before putting a lunchbox inside the girl's bag and walking out again. She was busying herself with Alexiel's lunch in the kitchen when Loki leisurely strolled in and stretched his paws, yawning in process.

"Hey Loki, your food's ready" she said with a smile and returned to the sandwiches whilst Loki made his way to his food bowl. At the start the demi-God refused to eat the bizarre concoction the Midgardians called 'cat food' but he soon began to like it, blaming the acquired taste for feline food on his current form. He still wasn't exactly thrilled about being a cat and he figured that only Thor could come up with an idea so preposterous just to make sure that he definitely kept out of trouble. He wondered if that was also done to make sure that Thanos didn't find him, as neither the involved Midgardians nor demi-gods were aware of Thanos' whereabouts. Hell, even Loki himself didn't actually know what happened to Thanos after the Avengers smashed his plans to millions of pieces. He never told Thor, or anyone for that matter, about the hell Thanos put him through. How he was tortured until he lost consciousness and his will to live. Thanos wanted a puppet and quickly tortured Loki to the point where the demi-god was actually forced to become his puppet, losing all his willpower. Right now Loki was a puppet that just rid of its strings, learning how to live without being controlled.

"Loki!" Alisa squealed in delight and picked him up, cradling him in his arms with a smile "come with me to school!" Not wanting to admit to anyone that she was actually a little afraid of going there for the first time. Sure, Alexiel was going to the same school but he wasn't going to be in her class, which wasn't making the girl feel any better. She would only see him at breaks if she were lucky since he was older and had his own friends. She was yet to make friends.

"Don't be absurd" Anita said with a shake of her head, now packing Alexiel's sandwiches away "you're going to school and not to the park." She had no time to deal with the little girl's antics right now, there was too much that had to be done "Alexiel is going to be there you know, I'm sure that he'll take good care of you."

"Yes mother" Alisa murmured and placed Loki back on the tiled floor before walking out of the kitchen, looking rather down. She didn't want to worry her mother any more than she had to, not like she did last year- even uncle Tony scolded her for that. Perhaps uncle Tony could understand if she told him?

Loki watched as the child left the room, disheartened, and wondered what was going on between Anita and Alisa. Even someone like him could see that something was amiss, that they didn't have a healthy mother-daughter relationship. He had never seen the little girl talk to either of her parents about anything that worried her, choosing to talk to him instead. Sometimes she spoke to Alexiel but that was also a quite rare occurrence.

_Mother doesn't love me Loki, I'm a burden to her_.

After another hectic hour both children were tucked into the car and Anita drove away, taking them to school. Loki watched them leave in the pouring rain through the window in Alisa's room, feeling a little lonely. The house became a quiet place once the Midgardian child was gone and Loki couldn't really say that he enjoyed it as much as he thought he would. Sure, he hated when she woke him up by tugging on his tail or ears, giggling when he tried to swat her fingers away, but now he had nothing to do for the whole day.

He heard movement in the other room and figured that it was Steven who probably just crawled out of bed, having been out the whole time last night. Steven Stark was a curious creature who was nothing like Tony and even Loki, not being a huge fan of Tony, still had to admit that Tony was a lot more successful than Steven in more ways than one, even as a substitute father to Alisa. This Stark family was based on a tight web of lies and reassurances and one day there will just be too much and the web will finally break, rendering this family to nothing.

The phone began to ring in the kitchen and the man made his way to answer it with an unsteady walk, clearly not sober enough. He coughed loudly, clearing his throat before picking up the phone:

"Hello?"

Minutes passed in silence as Loki listened in, a little curious. Plus, not like there was anything else that could be done around this house. Then, Steven finally began to talk to the person on the other side of the line, not even bothering to cover up the fact that he wasn't enjoying the conversation.

"Fuck off, you don't know anything! Keep sitting on your ass all day whilst everyone else does the work for you!"

He shouted down the phone, viciously angry and then his voice died down as the speaker on the other side of the line began to speak, evidently maintaining his calm façade and Loki figured that it was Tony. He had never seen the younger Stark angry apart from the incident last year. Tony jetted over to see Alisa in the hospital, leaving all his business behind, angry and extremely upset. Then he came here, to this flat, and hell broke loose. Loki was taken aback by the anger of the man, shocked and actually a little afraid- he had never seen him get violent because of anger. It was touching, really, that Alisa meant to him more than to her own parents, but it was also a little strange.

"Fuck you Tony, stop badgering me! Stop caring so much- she's not yours!"

Tony was clearly ringing up about Alisa, probably wondering whether she was excited about her first day in school or not. Seeing as it was early morning in Moscow, it must have been long past midnight in America so Tony must have stayed up extra late just to make sure she was all right.

Alisa would have loved it Tony was here today, she would have someone other than Loki to talk to, not that Loki minded it all that much. He could relate himself a little to the child and it actually made him feel quite…safe? He wasn't sure how else he could describe this feeling, having never actually experiencing it before.

Steven slammed the phone down, not bothering to talk to his brother anymore and stalked off to the kitchen to get some food before he had to get dressed and be off to work. Loki wasn't actually entirely sure about what kind of job the male had, but he wasn't really that curious about it in the first place.

"Fuck!" The man shouted and banged his fist on the table before sinking into one of the chairs, hands covering his face. Tears began to slowly fall onto the wooden table top as the man sat alone, in silence, sobbing.

…

**A/N:** so sorry for the wait! Well, until next time :-)


	7. Midgard 6

**-1 year later-**

1St of September

Part II

Loki watched the man sob, not really sure what he should do. After all, he was just a cat right now; there wasn't much he could offer. Just as he was pondering what Tony had said to him to cause such a strong emotional reaction, the lock on the front door clicked and opened to reveal Anita.

"I'm home Steven" she called out into the dark depths of the flat and kicked her shoes off before entering the kitchen, looking more tired than before. Her eyes widened when she noticed him weeping and concern washed over her face. She bent down so she could get a better look at his face, having been trained well enough as a doctor to be able to calm hysterical patients and asked, voice calm and collected "what's wrong Steven?"

Through the tears the male managed to let out a bitter laugh and murmured "perhaps Tony would make a better dad than me, Anita" words barely recognisable because of the tears. The woman rolled her eyes at his pathetic state and shook her head.

"No, raising a child would be a little too much for someone like Tony" she said, confidently but Loki found himself disagreeing with her. He was already looking after the child as if she was his own and something told the furry demi-god that there would be no way Tony would ever leave Alisa by herself.

"Now, get up and get ready- Sebastian is probably waiting for us," Anita ordered and Loki began to wonder who this Sebastian was. Perhaps it was a friend of Tony or Steven since the name suggested that he was definitely not from Moscow or anywhere in Russia. He watched the two Midgardians disappear in the bedroom and tuned out Anita's voice as she began telling Steven what was the most appropriate outfit to wear.

"So who is picking up Alisa from school?" Steven asked his wife whilst tying his tie and Loki was actually surprised to see how much a decent suit could change a man. For once Steven looked like a successful businessman even if his wife had to help him with dressing up. Loki wasn't sure where they were going but he had a bad feeling about it already.

"Alex is walking her home" Anita answered simply before sliding her slender form into a black, formal dress "so there's need to worry about her, he can take care of her."

Loki watched them leave curiously and went back to sleep after the front door was locked, dreaming of Asgard yet again. No matter what he thought about this family he still wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep in his own bed.

…

The small girl waited outside the school gates for her parents for over an hour and has already began to feel a little upset. Something told her that they've forgotten her again.

"Hey little girl, want me to walk you home?" Someone's unfamiliar voice rang through the quietness of her surroundings and she looked up at the tall, hooded man before wiping her tears away and shaking her head as a negative, unable to find her voice. The man before her made the child feel very uncomfortable especially now that there were no people on the streets.

He man laughed and crouched in front of the girl, a fake smile playing on his thin lips. He could tell that the girl didn't trust him and it amused him greatly to see her squirm a little from feeling so uncomfortable around him.

"What's your name kid?" He asked, a friendly note embedding itself into his flat tone, watching her pupils dilate. He could tell that she never had to face a situation like this before and was a little curious to know what she would come up with. Usually children of her age were trusting enough to tell him their real name, but he could tell that with the little girl before him it'll probably be a different story altogether. She was cautious and rather sharp for a child so there was also a possibility that she'll give him a fake name or try to run away. The last option was more appealing to his predatory nature- toying with the terrified child was the best part.

Alisa wasn't exactly sure of what she had to do in this kind of a situation. At first she was almost brought to tears by such a sudden, intrusive question but then she decided against it as there was no one around to help her but herself. The fact that she grew up with barely any support from her parents, save all the support Tony gave her, she has become very self aware and cautious around strangers as she knew that not all adults were good; her uncle Tony told her so. She also figured that giving him her real name wasn't a smart move in case he would want to take her away from her parents so she decided to try her luck with giving him a fake, made-up name.

"Inessa, it's nice to meet you"

…

**A/N:** sorry about such delay, I had a ton of exams so I barely had time for doing anything but revision, sorry! Next week onwards I will be publishing a chapter per week so stay tuned! :)


	8. Midgard 7

**-1 year later-**

1St of September

Part III

Rain began to fall upon the city, the sky weeping pitifully at the slow passers-by as they scuttled around the busy streets of Moscow, each keeping their head down and nose out of anyone else's business. The cars swept by, most drivers speeding away into nothingness, late to one event or another, completely disregarding the need of unrelated pedestrians that waited patiently for the traffic light to turn red so they could cross in peace. The colourless water was running down their opened umbrellas, unable to cleanse the people. Some, however, had rainwater dripping from the ends of their hair and tips of their noses, but those were the unlucky minority- people that were forgetful enough as it was without the sudden change in weather having to remind them about it.

A black, spotless Mercedes cruised the busy streets, half empty, and its passengers only too eager to get home as quickly as possible. Anita's steady hand was holding the steering wheel loosely, her honed, well-manicured nails reflecting the light above- something that Steven used when he was too engrossed into reading. Right now the male's chocolate coloured irises were quickly skimming over a letter of adoption that confirmed the identity of the third person in the car.

"Sebastian Stark, I like the sound of that" the man grinned, revealing the pearly whites of his teeth, his gaze flickering over to his wife as if seeking for approval. The tall, nonchalant beauty kept her bright cerulean irises fixed upon the traffic ahead but nodded her head to show her husband that she had indeed heard his words and that he now had her approval.

The young boy that was currently occupying the car seat that fit almost perfectly into the mould of the left side of the back seat titled his head to the side a little, recognising his name. His raven black bangs fell to the side, following the movement of his head, covering his right eye a little. Emerald green orbs stared ahead, but not out of the windscreen of the car- he was looking at Steven. The child's gaze was full of life and curiosity, the latter being sparked by the mention of his name.

"Papa?" He uttered quietly, questioningly, still getting used to the feeling of such an unfamiliar word rolling off his tongue. Sebastian's tone was gentle and serene, which was very rare amongst children of his age. It was as if his very being brought calmness and peace into the car, settling the adults' high strung nerves. Anita's lips parted lightly to enable a sigh to roll of her full lips, fighting an urge to bite down on her lower lip as she didn't want to smear the perfectly applied lipstick. It was cute really and she definitely approved the new addition to the family, but a stray thought at the back of her mind never left her exhausted brain- would he ever call her mother?

"Yes son?" Steven enquired curiously, his grin visibly widening as he glanced back at their adopted child, wondering what the sweetheart wanted. Hearing the little boy call him such an endearing name made the male ecstatic, almost melting his very heart. The child was extremely cute.

Suddenly Anita's mobile phone came to life, vibrating loudly inside her jacket's pocket. She sent her husband a glance, silently urging him to answer it. Steven nodded his head and obeyed. He reached around for the familiar black leather, fingers quickly locating the object in question and encircling over it, pulling it out. The caller I.D was showing his own number and the man tried to hide it from his wife.

"Have you been giving Alex your phone?" She sighed, exasperated and a little irate, nothing escaping her meticulous albeit brief glance. She wasn't happy about the fact that her husband allowed their son to play around with such an expensive gadget- after all; it was the latest model of the currently popular smartphone that was created by their family friend.

Steven gave her a silent, apologetic nod of the head before finally answering the call.

"Alex, what's up?" His voice was cheery and his smile broad and welcoming, but only until he heard the other, unexpected voice give him an order.

"Get home."

Steven's expression dropped considerably and instantly acquired a sour undertone. He would recognise that sarcastic tone anywhere, even on his own deathbed. This time, however, that usual taunting snicker was absent from the speaker's voice. Tony Stark was furious and he was waiting for them at home.

"Bu-" The older male began to protest, not wanting to just obey his younger brother's selfish demand but the other Stark was having none of that.

"Don't argue with me Steven. I said home, now."

A small sigh escaped his lightly parted lips when he heard his brother hang up on him.

"Tony's home….and he's pretty mad"

...

**A/N:** I'm so, so sorry for such a delay! T_T


End file.
